The present invention relates to a process for the purification of predominantly straight chain olefins. It is particularly useful for purifying alpha-olefins derived from the cracking of petroleum hydrocarbons. More specifically, the process of the invention involves treating the olefins with a liquid boron trifluoride-alcohol solution.
Olefins formed by wax cracking of petroleum hydrocarbons contain certain impurities which lead to color formation and limit the reactivity of these olefins in many reactions, such as alkylation, oxo reactions, sulfonation, and polymerization, including oligomerization to form synlube materials and copolymerization with ethylene. These impurities may include conjugated and unconjugated dienes as well as other olefins, aromatics and paraffins. In the past, various treatments have been proposed to purify cracked wax olefins, including treatment with sulfuric acid, and the like. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,570. However, these treatments are usually only partially effective or are impractical. Often, yield losses are too high, the reagent is too expensive, or the alpha-olefin is isomerized.